Asian visitor growth will define tourism in NZ over the next decade

A lot has been said about the importance of Asia to tourism in New Zealand today and into the next decade. I've noticed, as a sector, we're good at talking about it, but, how much is being done to ensure we get a share of this growing market?

The future for Asia is extra-ordinary. China is expected to be the largest economy in the world between 2020 and 2025. Australian experts believe China arrivals will more than double to over 1 million, making it as important as New Zealand for Australia, by 2015.

The UNWTO thinks that between 1995 and 2020 Asia will have gone from 15 percent to 25 percent of global tourism movements. I could go on as there are plenty of statistics about Asia that all paint more or less the same picture. Asia is the new centre-piece of world economics and wealth.